I had the great pleasure of photographing the daughter of  Dr. Hansel Tookes and Peter Ortega at their home in Brickell, Miami. Many Covid safe preparations occurred for this to happen including Covid tests, masks, booties and of course the help of her two dads as I could not touch the baby.

This was truly one of the most emotional and beautiful sessions. If it wasn’t enough to meet the new baby of my high school friend Hansel, witnessing Peter’s family meeting her for the first time was both heartwarming and tender. In this unprecedented time, despite the minor inconvenience of wearing a mask etc, everyone was filled with joy and admiration over the beauty and demeanor of this newborn baby. Her smile and her dimples were enough to make everyone melt. Now add on the delicious love pouring out of Hansel and Peter and it was a recipe for sheer bliss!

We began the session posing her on the bed and their puppy Hercules loved being a part of it as well. He was well behaved and happy to oblige with our requests to sit still next to Paula. Hansel and Peter fed her, changed her, bathed her and continued their day to day activities with her while I snapped away. The last hour of the session, Peter’s family from California came to meet baby Paula for the first time. I was so honored to witness their joy over meeting her. I am still so in love with these images of this family.

Here are some highlights from our session. Thank you so much Hansel and Peter for choosing me to capture this time!

xo